Morganamilo/paru · error · anyhow::Error

failed to parse srcinfo

Error message

failed to parse srcinfo "{}"

What it means

read_pkg parses a .SRCINFO file with the srcinfo crate; on failure it wraps the parser error with context naming the srcinfo path. The message means the SRCINFO on disk is malformed or unreadable for the pkgbuild being processed.

Solutions

1. Regenerate the .SRCINFO: run `makepkg --printsrcinfo > .SRCINFO` in the pkgbuild directory.
2. Inspect the wrapped srcinfo error in the message to find the exact invalid line and fix it.
3. Verify required fields (pkgbase/pkgname, pkgver, pkgrel) are present and well-formed.
4. If the file is truncated, re-download/re-clone the pkgbuild source.

Example fix

# before: fix the malformed .SRCINFO by regenerating
cd ~/.cache/paru/clone/mypkg
makepkg --printsrcinfo > .SRCINFO
# verify
paru -G mypkg

let path = Path::new(dir).join(".SRCINFO");
let text = std::fs::read_to_string(&path)?;
if !text.contains("pkgbase") || !text.contains("pkgname") {
    panic!("{} missing required pkgbase/pkgname", path.display());
}

// handle parse failure per-package without aborting the batch
match read_pkgs(config, repos) {
    Ok(pkgs) => pkgs,
    Err(e) => {
        eprintln!("{e:#}; regenerate with: makepkg --printsrcinfo > .SRCINFO");
        Vec::new(),
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling read_pkg (via read_pkgs) on a repository/pkgbuild directory whose .SRCINFO fails srcinfo parsing — missing pkgbase/pkgname fields, bad field syntax, or truncated file.

Common situations: A partially-written .SRCINFO from an interrupted makepkg/pkgbuild run; hand-edited .SRCINFO with invalid keys; cloning a local repo whose .SRCINFO generation (makepkg --printsrcinfo) failed earlier.

Understand the failure class

Background: JSON parse error: "Unexpected token" / "not valid JSON" / "failed to parse" — what JSON parsers are really complaining about — this error's family across 45 libraries.

• Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

Related errors

• can't find package name in packagelist
• duplicate PKGBUILD
• could not find .SRCINFO for
• package list does not match srcinfo
• repo does not have a URL or Path

AI-assisted analysis of Morganamilo/paru@9ac3578807 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a3aafeb2b40c01cc. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/pkgbuild.rs:277

        Ok(())
    }

    fn read_pkg(&self, config: &Config, path: &Path) -> Result<PkgbuildPkg> {
        let srcinfo_path = path.join(".SRCINFO");

        if !srcinfo_path.exists() {
            self.generate_srcinfo(config, path)?;
        }

        let srcinfo = Srcinfo::from_path(&srcinfo_path);
        match srcinfo {
            Ok(srcinfo) => Ok(PkgbuildPkg {
                repo: self.name.to_string(),
                srcinfo,
                path: path.to_path_buf(),
            }),
            Err(err) => Err(anyhow!(err).context(tr!(
                "failed to parse srcinfo \"{}\"",
                srcinfo_path.display().to_string()
            ))),
        }
    }
}

#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
pub struct PkgbuildRepos {
    pub fetch: Fetch,
    pub repos: Vec<PkgbuildRepo>,
}

impl PkgbuildRepos {
    pub fn new(fetch: Fetch) -> Self {
        Self {
            fetch,
            repos: Vec::new(),

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